Author
Topic: 90 days report time frame (Read 779 times)

Koratian

today I was fined THB 2,000 "for being late" on the 90 days report by an officer at Nakhon Ratchasima Immigration Office. The due date was Nov. 05, a Sunday. Usually, when the limiting date of something to be officially done falls on a Sunday, the due date is the next workday. So the 7 days a 90 days report can be filed late would have counted from Tuesday, Nov. 07, on as day 1, therefore ended on Monday, Nov 13. Though I filed my 90 days report on Monday, Nov. 13, I was fined THB 2,000 for allegedly being 8 days late.

I paid the 2,000 Baht on the spot and received a receipt. But I have doubts, that this fine was justified. Can you please help me to understand?

I would agree with you, that you should not have been fined. This is quite a tricky question, a boderline case. It depends upon the definition, what the 7 days are. Are they an extension of the deadline, or are they a grace period "in calendar days", in which you just are not punished for the offense? In the latter case there is no right for having this grace period also moved to the next workday. The officer has the authority to make a decision on the spot, whether he extends it for you. It does not seem arbitrary to me, if he doesn't. He just could have been tolerant.

If he does not, you can accept that decision and pay, what you have done. Or you can challenge the decision instead. It might be interesting to hear of somebody, who has challenged such a borderline decision with a value of 2,000 baht, spending a multiple of money and a lot of time on that.

Challenging a decision like that would require claiming that the officer misused his discretionary leeway. You'd need a lot of good arguments for that.

What do others say? Maybe we get a good collection of arguments here, for the case that this happens to any of our readers.